Army Armour
by animebooklover14
Summary: AU: John is in the army when a new Major is transferred to his unit. Things start to get crazy as Major Sherlock Holmes takes over. Will John be able to survive the demanding nature of the military along with the whirlwind that is Sherlock Holmes?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay I have to thank my wonderful muse Thilbo4Ever for this idea! It's just so fun to play with these characters.**

 **Warning** **: I'm not in the army or military of any kind so what I've gotten off of the research I've done maybe wrong. I'll welcome corrections anytime just please be nice about it.**

 **Please enjoy the story!**

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John woke up as he always did in the morning. His internal alarm clock going off making himself wide awake at 5:30am even if he wanted to sleep a little more. He knew he had to start to get ready. As he sat up and stretched he looked around his barracks, well it was more like a one room house where about him and 15 other solders slept. He got lucky to get a small amount of people in his. But also with his duty the army needed to make sure the doctor, when he wasn't of duty, could stay well rested. He stood up realizing that, again, like most days he was the first to wake up. He quickly changed out of his sleeping shirt, balled it up, and tossed it over to the bed next to his own. The balled up shirt hit its target, a sleeping brunette.

"Bloody hell John, do you always have to be the first one up?" The brunette yawned as he sat up and tossed the shirt back sleepily. It was a normal wake-up for the two of them. While meeting in basic training two years ago they became fast friends.

"Sorry Greg, I can't help that I wake up before the others. Besides, you know we're meeting our new Major today. We gotta be ready there is much to do before then," John looked around the rest of the room. "Everyone needs to get up soon."

"Calm down Lieutenant, don't get carried away here. You know how Phillip gets when woken up with some of your methods," Greg laughed.

John himself couldn't help but chuckle. "Well Anderson is still a little new to being a solider I give him a year at tops before he opt-out, Second Lieutenant. Besides everyone in this barrack knows the rule about be up before 6."

"And this is why I have you wake me up, kindly, once you wake up so I don't have to deal with some of your more radical methods." Greg shook his head a bit.

John took his job seriously as a doctor and solider, when he was on the clock which happened to be most of the time, but when not on the clock he seemed to act almost like an older brother to everyone in the barracks. He seemed to keep everyone on their toes. "It only took you 2 weeks to figure that out." John tossed on his jacket making sure it was buttoned as he walked to the door. "Please make sure that everyone gets up. Even if that means tossing a bucket of cold water on Anderson today. He was up late again last night."

"Heading out?" Greg asked while slipping on his shirt not even bothering to ask how John knew about Anderson being up so late.

"Need to double check the time my shift starts. I'll be at the introduction with the rest of you though," John explained as he walked out the door into the crisp and chilled Afghanistan morning. When people think about Afghanistan most people think of the heat of the desert. Even in the arid land that he was in John knew it could get cold and chilly just like it was at this moment. With it being the middle of January and the sun wasn't even up it couldn't have been warmer than 35 degrees out, at least it was warmer then the winters in London.

As he headed to the medical building something caught John's eye. A new army vehicle was parked near the Major's office, along with a bus. "Must be getting some transfers in," he mumbled to himself. As he entered the medical office his thought was confirmed with seeing 10 to 15 people waiting to be evaluated. "Busy start to the day huh?" he called out to one of the nurses who was behind the desk.

"Oh Lieutenant, good to see you," she said as she looked up from the files spread out on her desk. "I'm guessing you're here to check the hours for the week right?"

"Yeah, looks like you guys have your hands full."

"Yeah, Dr. Young came down with something yesterday and still can't come in," the nurse sighed. "Dr. Ryley is doing the best he can but with more recruits here they need a checkup before they can do anything. Apparently the paperwork got lost somehow so we were never informed."

"Who's the next one Molly? I'll take 'em. I don't have anything until the ceremony with the new Major at 0800," John stated as he looked around.

"Him over there," Molly pointed. Following the direction he was given John walked over to a tall thin man sitting rather impatiently on the examination table. He watched as the man's sliver green eyes skimmed over him.

"Two or three years?" the man asked. His deep rich voice startled John slightly but confusing him more since he hadn't expected the man to ask him any kind of question right away.

"I'm sorry?" John replied as he slipped on his gloves.

"Two or three years? How long have you been in the army?" The man asked again this time clarifying his own question from before.

"Just over two years now."

"Ah I was wrong then, how odd, I would have thought almost three years if not more." The man didn't look upset that he was wrong about what he thought. He looked more confused and intrigued about it than anything.

"And why do you say that?"

"Your eyes Doctor. Your eyes speak wonders about the things you have seen."

"I'm sure they do Mr?" John questioned. He didn't even see a file for this guy anywhere near him and on top of that Sally didn't give him one.

"Holmes. Sherlock Holmes."

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 **I know John is a Captain when he meets Sherlock in the show. Here they are meeting well before the injury and he hasn't been promoted that high up yet. He's getting close though.**

 **Just in case some do not know John's rank as Lieutenant is higher then Greg's rank as Second Lieutenant.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay two updates in a week! I'm trying to get into a routine with my stories. This one I hope to publish on Wednesday's and Sunday's. I'm not sure how that is going to work at the moment but with my crazy schedule it seems good for right now.**

 **Anyway's on with the story I hope you guys like it.**

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"Well Mr. Holmes may I see your file?" John asked assuming that Sherlock had it since it wasn't already given to him.

"Ah yes my file, it will not be here on base until later this week. There was some kind of mix-up and it was left behind." Sherlock spoke as if the people responsible were idiots.

"I do need your file though Mr. Holmes, it is important to make sure there are no medical conditions that we need to know about, allergies and such."

"Ah thank you Doctor I do already know it's importance but thank you for restating it anyways. I have no allergies or anything of importance in my medical history though. Now that I've told you that, I can tell you aren't here working your normal shift and things are quite in an up roar so if you can please get on with the physical we will both benefit from it in the long run. Besides I trust you to fill out any pertinent information once my file does arrive." Sherlock waved his hand for John to continue on as the other man just watched in awe. The fact that somehow this man knew that this wasn't his normal shift was quite strange he let it go through for the fact it would save time. He made a mental note to find Sherlock later and ask him how he knew.

"Yes, well then, that would be for the best then," John spoke as he readjusted his gloves as he started the routine physical.

The exam went on without any incident and John took off his gloves. "Well, other than being a twig you seem to be in relative good health. I'd recommend putting on a few pounds at least, the weather here is quite drastic and it would probably help dealing with that."

Sherlock hopped off the table gracefully, "Well I'll take your opinion into account doctor, though I doubt I'll do anything about the weight. I have everything under control when it comes to my body." He gave a slight nod as he gave John a farewell.

John shook his head in slight amusement as he watched the man walk away in nothing but his t-shirt and his combat pants. "It's chilly out," John calls out.

Sherlock waved off the warning, "Do not worry Doctor, I am not going far."

Shaking his head even more now John walked back up to Molly to get the next file.

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As he pull off his gloves for a final time of his impromptu shift John started heading out to main meeting building on base. The building was used for a number of reasons but was mostly used when there was a change in command within the company itself, or when promotions come around. His eyes searched though the see of people until he found the man he was looking for, Greg. He walked up to the man with a small smirk, "So everyone's here?" he joked knowing full well that no one in the company could miss this unless they have a duty of their own.

"You'd be surprised, Anderson was actually awake on his own just after you left," Greg laughed.

"Well he's learning at least, there is hope for him yet," John laughed lightly seeing Anderson looking over at him with a glare. The man knew that he was the butt of some of the jokes in the company for being one of the newer members and a few other reasons as well. Before he could say anything to either Greg or John though someone walked out onto the stage, everyone immediately stood at attention.

"At ease everyone," the man spoke. The man, Major Jones was filling in since their previous Major had been sent home due to having to be sent home a month ago. "As you know since Major Sholto we've been making arrangements for a new Major to come in. He has requested that his name stay a secret until today."

John spotted someone else over in the corner of the stage in full military uniform. His head was down slightly causing his hat to shadow his face. Something about the man's posture and body looked slightly familiar to him though. He couldn't make out who it was though. He didn't hear anything else that Major Jones was saying until the name was announced, "Major Sherlock Holmes."

Sherlock looked up as his name was said and gracefully marched up to the front of the stage as everyone, including John, saluted him. He and Major Jones shook hands as Jones then stepped back slightly. A smirk appeared on Sherlock's lips as his eyes swept across the room. John could have sworn that his new Major's slivery eyes had settled on him for more than a few seconds but dismissed the feeling.

"At ease," Sherlock spoke, his voice holding a power of authority that John had not heard from the man earlier. "As Major Jones has stated I am Major Sherlock Holmes and from this point on will be your commanding officer. I pray that you will heed my advice when the time comes. It might just save your lives. Now that is all, you are dismissed," Sherlock turned on his heels and walked off the stage slipping out the door quickly leaving everyone shocked.

"What was that?" Greg muttered as they started to walk out of the building.

John shrugged a bit "Not really sure, I saw him earlier though at medical. He didn't have his file though so I didn't know he was the Major."

What imbecile doesn't have any files with them when coming to a new base," Anderson sneered as he pushed past both John and Greg. Both the men roll their eyes knowing that the other can't do anything since the 'imbecile' in question was the commanding officer.

As they made their way around base, nothing to do at the moment but to get some breakfast, Greg noticed a man walking over to them. "Lieutenant Watson," the man called out as he approached them with a salute.

John quickly saluted back, "Yes?" he questioned.

"A message sir, from the Major." The man said quickly as he handed off the paper to John. The man wasted no time after that he then gave John a final salute and left just as quickly as he came.

"What does the Major want? And more importantly which one is it?" Greg asked as he looked over John's shoulder as he opened up the note.

 _Report to my barracks immediately if convenient, if not come anyway.-Major SH_

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 **Well the ball is rolling now! I wonder what Sherlock's doing calling John into his barracks already...hmmm. I'll update again on Wednesday.**

 **Reviews are always welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh I wasn't sure if I was going to make it today but I did! Today's chapter was super fun to write!**

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John stood outside the barracks that was assigned to Major Sherlock Holmes. He straightened out his uniform and pulled back his shoulders. He knew that he had already met the new Major but was still worried about giving off a wrong impression realizing that his actions earlier were a little less then respectable towards someone who was above his own rank. Taking in one more deep breath he marched into the building. He quickly saw that the man he was looking for was sitting at his desk not far away.

"Lieutenant John Watson reporting sir," he saluted. As any respectable solider would he kept the salute as he waited to be ordered. A few moments went by until the Major looked up.

"Please, Watson at ease." John followed the order relaxing a little, his arms resting behind his back and his shoulders relaxing slight, even if the tension could still be seen in them. No one spoke for a few more moments until John broke the silence.

"Sir, may I ask why I am here?" it still confused him for why the Major called him to his personal barracks shortly after the introduction ceremony.

"Ah right to the point huh? Well then, I was going to see how you reacted learning I was the new Major at the meeting today. I know I did not inform you of my position here when I was in medical earlier." Sherlock handed over a small file with his own name to John. As John looked at the first page it seemed to be the Major's own personal medical file. "The main reason for this is that I like to see how people react around the base. Not how they act around their superior. It's quite telling actually when one see's people in a relaxed surrounding."

John looked up from the file to Sherlock with an eyebrow raised, "And why are you telling me this sir? You do not need to explain yourself to me."

"No I do not, but you are an oddity Watson." Sherlock began to explain. "I am an expert in battle strategies and hand to hand combat. With the battle strategies I use the information I observe between my men and place them in locations suited best for their expertise and experience in the field. I have never been wrong about how long a solider has been enlisted before."

"Until today?" John asked, not really sure if being off by a year was considered wrong.

"Correct, until today."

"Can you demonstrate it?" John asked. He was quite curious about the skill that the commanding officer seemed to possess. Sherlock looked at his Lieutenant his eyes knitted together slightly before a small smile graced his lips.

"There is more about you," Sherlock spoke after a few moments.

"Me? What about me?"

"You were a doctor first before coming into the army for your career. Probably signed up before Uni and started your duty a year or two after your graduation when they enlisted you. As for why you joined the army it paid for you medical training and you seem to like the thrill of the always present danger as you have been here for a few years and will probably be here a few more without any question. The reason I know you've been a doctor longer is because your hands are calloused from the use of tools rather than from a gun or combat. You're in your early 30's, 34 at the very latest. You are also left handed quite odd since only about 8 to 13% of people are left handed. You are unattached and probably either an only child or have no living relatives who you are close to because of the lack of sentimental items on your person. There are no bulges in your inner pockets. It is not hard to see that you are a kind man who laughs a lot and has a good time either. Reason I can see this is that you have small laugh lines by your eyes and around your mouth I could tell that this morning wasn't your normal shift and that it was impromptu for the simple fact that your hair was slightly disheveled the whole time as well as that your posture was still relatively lax compared to how it normally would be when one is fully awake."

"What if I had been just running late?" John asked in amusement.

"You would have then apologized for being late." Sherlock stood up his eyes never leaving John's. "How'd I do?" he asked as he put on his hat.

"That was bloody brilliant…Wow that really was remarkable. One small detail wrong though."

"Oh?"

"I shoot with my right hand." Sherlock's eyebrow raises slightly taking in the sight of John's hands one more time.

"Ah it seems you do, interesting. You are full of surprises aren't you Lieutenant?"

"I'm nothing but an Army doctor and soldier Major. You seem to be the one who is very interesting here."

"Ah John that is where your wrong. You are an anomaly. You are a soldier who takes lives yet you are also a doctor so you save them as well. This in itself is a contradiction. Not many in this field would or even could do both. There are Army doctors yes, but they are just that, doctors." Sherlock took a small breath. "Anyways we seem to have gotten off topic slightly. I have a mission for you and a few men. Since I have not had time to observe everyone as I'd like I would like you're input on who comes on the mission with us. Your own knowledge of the camp and the people who are here along with their medical files will be quite helpful. The mission itself will be small. We will be away from the base for a few weeks at most. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Yes sir, of course sir," John saluted with a small smile.

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 **Thank you for those who reviewed last chapter! I love hearing from everyone and the reviews make me work even harder to write a great chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed Sherlock's little deduction of John too! I'll see you guys on Sunday!**


	4. Chapter 4

With the mission setting out in less then a few days' time John went out to find the few people he thought would be good for the job. He kept in mind the slightly brash nature of the commanding officer that will be joining them on this mission which then narrowed the few people he thought of down to only a handful. He searched the camp high and low for the first person that had come to his mind when it was said he could pick out the squad, Greg Lestrade. When he finally found him, out playing rugby with other men, he whistled loudly getting everyone's attention.

"Oi Lestrade get your arse over here," he yelled with a smirk. The other man waved his teammates off and jogged up to his friend.

"What's up? You find out what Major Holmes wanted?"

"Yeah, turns out that there is a mission, and that he wanted me to help pick the men who will go out. So what do you say?"

Lestrade smirked as the two of them started to walk to one of the barracks. "A chance to see what that man is like in person, plus get out of the base for a little while? Why not. It's been way to quite here lately."

"Trust me I know. Like a calm before the storm, you know?" John shivered a bit. It wasn't because he was cold, on the contrary even the January weather in Afghanistan it was above 50 degrees so he was quite comfortable. Both of the men sighed slightly. They didn't understand why all of a sudden the violence in the area had dropped dramatically. No one knew why activity was rapidly dropping from the enemy. All's everyone knew was that it was causing all of the tension around the base. Most ignored it, most people enjoyed the down time and ignored the lingering feeling.

There were a select few people on the base who were just fidgeting. These select few people were the ones John was looking for. They were the determined members of the base. As they entered the barrack John looked around trying to find a specific person. "Who are you looking for?" Greg asked trying to eye up the room as well.

"Second Lieutenant Amelia Yorkson. I think she'd be a good fit for this job," not seeing her right away John turned and looked at Greg. "Why don't you see if you can find anyone else who could be good. The Major can tell people no if he doesn't want them there." Greg hummed in agreement.

"Better to give the Major more options then hardly any after all right?"

"Right." John nodded as Greg left. As the doctor turned around, large brown eyes right behind him, nearly ran into the very person he was looking for.

"Boo!" she said, startling John slightly. She let out a small laugh as John quickly recovered from the shock.

"Ah Amelia, just who I was looking for actually." He didn't know Amelia as well as he did Greg so he opted for a more formal tone.

Amelia's deep brown eyes grew curious "Oh really? What's up Lieutenant?"

"You told me a few days ago that you've been bored. Wanna go on a mission?" John smiled slightly as he watched the other's face light up.

"Really!? Yes, of course! What kind is it? When are we going? What-"

"Amelia," John spoke, amusement written all over his face. "Come on, we'll head over to Major Holmes's barracks and he can explain it to all of us at once."

"The new Major is leading this?" she questioned as they started to make their way over to where Sherlock certainly would be. The two of them walked side by side. Amelia stood at almost the same height as John, only a hair shorter than the doctor.

"Yes, he didn't go into detail about what the mission was, just asked me to gather up a few good people who would be good for the job."

"Well, thanks for thinking about little ol' me," she spoke with slight shyness in her voice her chestnut colored bangs hovering over her eyes slightly. John smiled softly putting his hand on her shoulder.

"None of that, besides, you're up for a promotion soon aren't you? You're excellent in the field, I've seen you myself. If you-"

"John!" a deep voice called out. Both Amelia and John looked up to see that the voice itself belonged to Major Sherlock Holmes. They immediately a saluted only to be waved off with a simple, "At ease."

Relaxing a little more than he had when first meeting Sherlock John was quick to speak, "Yes Major what is it?"

"Are you ready? It's been nearly 30 minutes already and you have not returned with the men I asked for." Sherlock paused for a moment, fully noticing the other person next to John now. "Is this one of them?"

"Yes, this is Second Lieutenant Amelia Yorkson." John spoke as he indicated with one hand who Amelia was.

"Is she the only one you thought of?" Sherlock asked as he studied her closely not even looking at John as he talks.

"No. I have another friend who I thought of. He's grabbing a few more men as we speak."

"No need. The four of us should service, that is if the other man you thought of is adequate." Sherlock, finally done studding Amelia, takes a step back.

Amelia raises an eyebrow and glances at John while she was being studied. When finally done feeling like a test subject she spoke to her commanding officer trying not to come off as rude. "What was that about?"

"Ah, just getting details about you down, I don't need a complete moron to ruin this mission." Amelia opened her mouth slightly to say something but shut it again before words could come out of her mouth. "Oh come on now Second Lieutenant spit it out. There is no need to hold your tongue."

"Your quite rude you know that right?" She spoke accusingly. Sherlock's eyebrow raised in slight amusement.

"Yes, I do know that, I'm not a Major because I'm nice. I'm a Major because I get the job done. Now John, Amelia, let us go find your friend and we can get on with what needs to be done."

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 **Short chapter sorry. I'm also sorry I didn't update yesterday. I'll update Wendesday though!**


	5. Chapter 5

After finding Greg near Sherlock's barracks John quickly noticed two other people who seemed to be bothering him. Anderson stood next to Greg going on about something or another with a darker haired woman almost literally hanging on him.

"Greg, please tell me-" John started already knowing that the new Major would probably not like Anderson or his friend, Sally Donovan.

"No don't worry." Greg just waved off what John was going to say as Sherlock started to look over Greg himself. It only took a few moments for the taller man to look over him before taking a few glances at the other two people near him.

"You," Sherlock stated while looking directly at Greg. "You are fine for coming along. You two on the other hand," he spoke pointedly turning to the other two. "You'd get us all killed. I will not have that."

"What are you talking about?" Anderson shot back obviously pissed with what the new Major just told him.

"Since you asked," Sherlock began with a smirk, John could have sworn that there was a slight malice look in his eyes as well but he brushed it off. "You have been here only a year, give or take a month or so. Your hands are shaky when you hold a gun and you are unable to calm them. You're incredibly stupid slow and weak minded when it comes to the most basic things around this base. Reasons I know this is because of two simple facts. First is because I am your commanding officer, your Major, and yet you carry a snide tone and accusations in your voice. Even when I can easily dismiss you and send you home on a dishonorable discharge in a blink of an eye. Second is because you have toilet paper on your boot and have been walking around with it on there for roughly an hour."

John couldn't help but laugh slightly already knowing how brash Sherlock was. Amelia soon joined in with a few chuckles as well, unsure if she really should be laughing at this situation or not since the Major seemed to look so serious about it. Greg on the other hand just seemed to be confused about what was going on. His eyebrow raised in amusement though, as Sherlock was picking apart the other man.

Anderson huffed and was about to say something when Sherlock cut him off. "Should I move on? Oh I now, you," he said quickly looking over now at Sally. "You and this man here have your own little thing doing on don't you? Oh you must have, and it must be extremely physical too judging by the state of your knees. The concrete here is very bad for them. Once we get back from the mission maybe you should have John check on them." Sally's face turned red with anger as she stormed off, not even saluting like she was supposed to, Anderson following right behind her.

As they left Amelia started laughing all over again putting her hand on Sherlock's shoulder. "I think that was the single best humiliation I've seen since I've gotten here," she said after her laughter finally died down.

"Excuse me Major."

"Yes John?"

"Do you even know the meaning of tact?"

"Of course I do."

"Then please excuse me for saying this then Major. Please use some."

Sherlock looked at the three people near him. Something that looked almost like confusion ran over his face, "Was that not tactful?"

"Just the opposite, Major," Greg spoke finally amusement written all over his face.

"Quite funny though," Amelia smiled.

"Funny in what way? It wasn't funny it was factual. Did you three not see the state of her knees?" Amelia shook her head and patted Sherlock's shoulder.

"You may have thought it was factual but how it came out was a little not so good. Maybe work on being a little more tactful?" John asked. Sherlock continued to look confused as he entered his own barracks with the other three behind him. It was weird to have three people he just had met already acting familiar with him. He didn't particularly know what to think about this. It felt very strange, they didn't seem angry, even though they could not scold him since he was the commanding officer, but they did not storm off like most people would.

"Most people tell me to piss off," he spoke as he sat down behind his desk.

"You're the Major, we can't really do that," Greg spoke.

"Oh you could have, many have before. Anyways, let's get on with the briefing of our mission." The three people nodded as the watched Sherlock speak, knowing that the time for fun had passed and it was time to get on with the business at hand. "Now, our mission is simple really. We are to gather intelligence from the outside. One reason I have been brought in is because of the strange activity around the base. This base does not hold any significance at the moment but things could easily change at a moment's notice. With the fact that everyone here, in this room, is on edge means that you all can feel it. The change in the game. Someone, something, is shifting the battle field and our job is to find out who, or what, it is. You all have your own role to play in this."

"And what roles would those be sir?"

"Ah, wonderful question Gorge."

"It's Greg sir."

"Yes, of course." Sherlock brushed him off. "You are our lookout; you'll be keeping your eyes on our surroundings. We are all going to be doing this since we will need all of our insights when it comes to the mission but I need someone's focus just on this. No one detail should be over looked. The smallest detail that anyone sees, even if it is not spotted by another could be important. Continuing on, Amelia, you're a kind face, it will be easier to talk to people with a woman around it seems less threatening that way. With you hopefully we will be able to get some information extracted quicker then planed. The faster that we get information the faster we can return to the safety of the base. John you are our medic, going out into the field no matter how safe it may seem to be is not safe. We need you in case anything would to happen. Wither that is to one of us or even to a person who is helping us with information. You also seem to be a kind soul so you along with Amelia will have good chances at getting information. I on the other hand will be recording what we need information wise and taking in all the data. We are not to engage in any battle unless it is necessary. This mission realizes on our stealth and our ability to get information that is all."

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 **Sorry that it's been a week. Things happened and I couldn't update sadly. I'm working on chapter 6 as you read this. Reviews are always welcome :)**


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